Kettle Brew Volume (3 gal vs 5 gal)

[FlashGordon11]

Heyo,
This is my first actual post here on hbf although I've spent countless hours perusing and searching. Even though I've helped two friends brew I just had my first brew day using my own equipment (caribou slobber that came with the NB deluxe starter. I did have one issue that I wanted to get some feedback on from brewers of any experience level.

Most recommendations and guides that I've seen say it is best to brew about 3 gal in the kettle and then top it off in the Carboy to 5 assuming a 5 gal batch. However, using a lower amount caused all kinds of issues for me due to the large size of my kettle. Thermometer didn't reach the wort, wort chiller was not submerged, had to deal with chilling two separate kettles. So can anyone explain to me what they've done to deal with his issue, or if I can just brew the full batch without any adverse effects? Any other feedback would be great. Thanks y'all!!

Also what is an effective way to pour from kettle to the funnel in the Carboy? Because I definitely spilled more than I wanted...

 

[user 103238]

Welcome to the hobby! Slobber is indeed a great batch to brew! If you are having difficulty in brewing with such a small quantity of water, increase your water volume. You could even do a full-volume boil where you would not need to use any top-off water. The downside is that you have a larger volume of liquid to cool, but since you already have a chiller and an adequate-sized kettle, you should be good to go.

Having a friend to help pour always worked for me when pouring from the kettle into the fermenter!

 

[FlashGordon11]

Hahaha yeah having a friend around would have been very clutch...

Alright appreciate the advice. I'll probably do a full volume on the next one and see how it goes. I'm not too worried about being able to cool the wort. My concern was more how it affected things like too much hop isomerization due to lower SG or the actual brewing of the grains and whatnot. If that's not an issue than I should be good to go.

 

[user 103238]

You do technically get more efficient isomerization with a lower gravity wort. That being said, in my experience in doing both styles of brews, it's never been an obvious difference. YMMV, as may your palate. With the volume of beer in most batches, and the quantity of hops used, I don't believe it's worth making any adjustments to your hop additions.

Just remember, more people helping you brew, means they help keep your beer fresh, which means you get to brew more often!

Hahaha yeah having a friend around would have been very clutch...

Alright appreciate the advice. I'll probably do a full volume on the next one and see how it goes. I'm not too worried about being able to cool the wort. My concern was more how it affected things like too much hop isomerization due to lower SG or the actual brewing of the grains and whatnot. If that's not an issue than I should be good to go.

 

[vnzjunk]

5 gallons of wort in an unwieldy BP (10Gal.) caused me spillage during transfer also. Usually I am brewing alone and have no help to lift and steady the BP during transfer to the fermenter. I solved this by dumping about half (or less) of the contents of the brewpot into a smaller sanitized pot and pouring from that into the fermenter. Made the whole process easier and no spillage. The added pot does require some extra sanitation but that is a small price to pay for less spillage/waste and mess cleanup. At this pre yeast pitching stage you want airiation of the wort so that is a side benefit of the extra sloshing around and pouring action. To date I have seen/tasted no ill effects of this process.

Welcome to the hobby! Slobber is indeed a great batch to brew! If you are having difficulty in brewing with such a small quantity of water, increase your water volume. You could even do a full-volume boil where you would not need to use any top-off water. The downside is that you have a larger volume of liquid to cool, but since you already have a chiller and an adequate-sized kettle, you should be good to go.

Having a friend to help pour always worked for me when pouring from the kettle into the fermenter!

 

[brewkinger]

As far as the transfer of wort into the fermenter goes, look into weldless ball valve setup.
Check out brewhardware.com.
Owner is an HBT user and I would highly recommend his stuff.
Plenty of DIY videos on his site (as well as YouTube) on how to make the mods to your kettle.
In my opinion, it is worth the extra $$ to not have to lift heavy kettle, possibly spilling and it burning myself.

 

[FlashGordon11]

As far as the transfer of wort into the fermenter goes, look into weldless ball valve setup.
Check out brewhardware.com.
Owner is an HBT user and I would highly recommend his stuff.
Plenty of DIY videos on his site (as well as YouTube) on how to make the mods to your kettle.
In my opinion, it is worth the extra $$ to not have to lift heavy kettle, possibly spilling and it burning myself.

This site is great, what setup do you prefer for the interior of the kettle? They had the straight or elbowed fitting that went to the ball lock on the outside. The elbowed one seemed like it would be good for my standard flat bottomed 7 gal aluminum kettle. And should a false bottom be used along with this setup? Or any other kind of filter for that matter? I do have a bazooka style mesh filter laying around...

 

[bookworm0367]

I just auto-siphon it over until there is a more manageable amount left in the kettle. Once that happens I just carefully pour the rest in. I know it is not getting as aerated but before I pitch it gets a few minutes of good shaking.

 

[brewkinger]

This site is great, what setup do you prefer for the interior of the kettle? They had the straight or elbowed fitting that went to the ball lock on the outside. The elbowed one seemed like it would be good for my standard flat bottomed 7 gal aluminum kettle. And should a false bottom be used along with this setup? Or any other kind of filter for that matter? I do have a bazooka style mesh filter laying around...

I have the weldless bulkhead, 3 piece ball valve, and 90 degree downturn elbow.
I installed it myself after watching numerous YouTube videos by BobbyM.
You can even get the step drill bit from him.
The only tricky part was figuring out how far up the side of the kettle to put the valve so that the downtube sat about 1/4 inch from bottom.
I also installed a thermometer on the outside and plan on getting a sightglass setup next.

Having said that, a false bottom will not work with his setup unless you cut out a piece of the false bottom to accommodate the bulkhead.

 

[cullen]

This is one reason why I like a bucket or conical fermenter for primary fermentation. Not only can you have plenty of head space, but it's trivially easy to pour into.